Lake Township debates expanding planning commission

Published 2:50 pm, Friday, April 22, 2016

LAKE TWP — Saying that it has nothing to do with the creation of a township wind ordinance, Supervisor Robert T. Smith proposed Monday expanding the planning commission from five members to nine.

Smith said he interviewed and recommended appointing Lisa Konke, Tom Carriveau, Dave Brady and Robert Scott to the four more spots. If approved, the nine-member board would be comprised of two members representing the agricultural district, three representing the shoreline and four from the residential district.

Lake Township Clerk Valerie J. McCallum said the ordinance has to be changed in order to appoint four additional members to the planning commission. Smith said a formal resolution to amend the ordinance to expand the planning commission, as well as some other ordinance revisions, will be discussed at a March 30 meeting. A public hearing will take place at 7 p.m. April 20, and if the board approves the revisions, the amendments will go into effect some time in May.

There was some dissent over Smith “hand picking” the four individuals, an allegation Smith denied. There also was a question raised as to whether Lake Township could legally increase the size of its planning commission to nine members.

Russ Lundberg, Huron County Building and Zoning director, said state law says planning commission members are appointed by the township’s chief elected official, with the approval subjected to a majority vote of board members.

“It’s just a matter of the supervisor collecting names and having the board approve them,” he said.

Lundberg said the law states the size of planning commissions is five, seven or nine members. Terms of regular members are three years, and terms are staggered (i.e. terms of three members are reappointed or appointed annually), Lundberg added.

Township board members voted during the administration’s first regular meeting, back in December 2008, to appoint Trustee Dale Hartsell to the Lake Township Planning Commission, a seat formerly held by Lake Township Clerk Valerie J. McCallum.

“We wanted the planning commission to go in a different direction,” Smith said at the time.

The move came under some fire, particularly because existing members said the planning commission has been in the final stages of creating a wind ordinance. This concern was raised again — numerous times — during Monday’s meeting.

“Explain the sense to add four new members when (the existing planning commission’s) one month away from having an ordinance that the board has been working on for the past year,” said Tim Lally, Lake Township Planning Commission member.

“We’re not going to have an agreement among nine people,” added Planning Commission Chairman Louis Colletta.

Lake Township adopted a one-year moratorium on wind energy development in March 2008, so the planning commission would have time to study issues dealing with siting, noise effects, health concerns, possible property value decreases and other problems the board fears could arise if not properly addressed in a township ordinance the planning commission has been creating.

Smith said the new members are able to read research that’s been compiled to date and make an educated vote without endangering the progress existing planning commission members have made.

“I think they will do a good job — that’s all I’m saying,” he said.

Smith told planning commission members in February the board had to have a wind ordinance ready for a public hearing in May.

“It’s been a long time and they said … it would be done in a year,” said Smith when asked why he set the May deadline. “ … Sooner or later, you’re going to have to bring something to the board. The sooner the better.”

Other amendments Smith proposed Monday included amending the height restriction in the R1 and R2 residential districts to from 28 feet to 35 feet, and put lot coverage back to 35 percent, instead of 25 percent in all residential districts.

Another topic at Monday’s meeting was meeting disturbances, as some previous township board meetings have become quite heated recently.

Smith proposed board members adopt a resolution regarding the disturbance of lawful meetings.

He cited Michigan Penal Code Act 328 of 1931, Chapter 750.170, Section 170 which states, “Any person who shall make or excite any disturbance or contention in any tavern, store or grocery, manufacturing establishment or any other business place or in any street, lane, alley, highway, public building, grounds or park, or at any election or other public meeting where citizens are peaceably and lawfully assembled, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.”

The board decided not to adopt the resolution because the disturbance of lawful meetings already is addressed via the aforementioned state law.

Smith said he wanted to make the public aware of this law, and hopefully the discussion held Monday night will prevent future meeting disturbances.

“That’s all I was trying to do,” Smith said following the meeting’s adjournment.

Also during the meeting, some board members and residents voiced concerns regarding others video taping board meetings.

According to the Michigan’s Open Meetings Act, a person attending an open meeting has the right to tape record, video tape or broadcast live the proceedings of the meeting.

“The right of a person to attend a meeting of a public body includes the right to tape-record, to videotape, to broadcast live on radio, and to telecast live on television the proceedings of a public body at a public meeting. The exercise of this right shall not be dependent upon the prior approval of the public body. However, a public body may establish reasonable rules and regulations in order to minimize the possibility of disrupting the meeting,” reads Chapter 15.263, Section 3 (1) of the Michigan Open Meetings Act 267 of 1976.

Board members voted for a resolution to have individuals video recording meetings be located on the far left of the township meeting room, from the council’s perspective, next to the audience section.

There have been a variety of individuals recording township meetings. It was disclosed during Monday’s meeting that the recording device is owned by former Lake Township Supervisor Clay Kelterborn. The individual taping Monday’s meeting was Lake Township resident Dan Depner.

The board asked Depner to move his camera to the far corner of the room, in front of the hall’s bathroom. However, from that spot, most of the board was out of the camera’s sight. There also were concerns that audio would not be recorded as it’s hard to hear in that area, especially during the winter when the furnace is running.

So, it was decided to have the recorder moved back to its original location, which is the location where board members voted to have it placed in the future.

“I hope that our new township board will allow the people to exercise their right to record public meetings according to the Open Meetings Act. A township board that respects those rights is showing their commitment to transparency in government,” Depner said in a statement following Monday’s meeting.

Also Monday, township board members discussed scheduling a board of review meeting that’s in addition to the one set for Tuesday. That is because some residents received their assessments late, and per state law, there has to be 10 days for a resident to appeal their assessment.